Opinion: 'Putin will leave sooner than we think — and Ivanishvili will follow'

Ivanishvili will go after Putin goes

“Putin will leave sooner than we think, and once he does, Mr Ivanishvili will also go, despite having moved his money out of Russia. And the whole situation in Georgia will change,” said Frederick Starr, chairman of the Central Asia–Caucasus Institute, speaking before the US Senate Subcommittee on European and Regional Security Cooperation.

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The discussion at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee focused on the future of US strategy in the Black Sea region.

Frederick Starr: “First of all, I want to express my respect to the Georgian people for what they have achieved over the decades of independence. It has not been an easy path. Remember, Putin attacked them in 2008 and we did almost nothing. Our authority there was undermined by that neglect — just as it was in Ukraine, by our inaction after Putin robbed Ukraine in 2014.”

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“But Putin is not a permanent figure. He lacks resources, he lacks people, he no longer has the exports he once did, and society is deeply divided — not because of the war, but because of the economic hardship now felt by everyone outside Russia’s two largest cities.

Putin will leave sooner than we think, and once he does, Mr Ivanishvili will also go, despite having moved his money out of Russia. And the whole situation in Georgia will change.”

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